a look back in time

Above photo: Temple Street (Glossop Heritage Trust Photo Archive)

Padfield 1901 Census

Background informationThe UK census is a statistical undertaking performed every ten years. In its basic form it is a tool designed to provide the government with information pertaining to the general population, a database that records every individual in every household and institution across the country. This gathering of information on such a large scale has been done before, namely in the form of the Domesday Book, compiled for William the Conqueror in 1086 for tax purposes. Move forward in time and there have been other forms of information gathering, mainly in Muster rolls used for military purposes in the British Army between 1730-1898, but nothing on the scale of the census.

The early census returns were recorded between 1801-1831. These contained very little information and were effectively head-counts. It wasn't until 1841 that further information was included such as: name, age, occupation and whether or not an individual was born in the same county as the census being recorded. From that point onwards until 1901, each census included minor changes, becoming slightly more detailed than its predecessor. The 1911 census, however, was different. For the first time the primary census returns were written by the "head of household," giving a unique glimpse at his or her handwriting. It also included additional pieces of information such as: nationality, duration of current marriage, number of children born within that marriage, number of living children and the number of children that had died. The extra occupation information might have shown some detail of the industry in which they worked. The 1921 census will not be available to view until 2022 as a result of the 100-year rule.

Padfield 1901 census transcript

The original scanned images of the 1901 census covering the Padfield area came in at around 40 pages, each page containing anything between 25-30 names. Several pages could be discounted because the contents do not lie within the immediate boundary of the present-day village. Additionally, several households are numberless and have not been included for this very reason, however, Glenthorne and Rose Bank are included.

As with an transcribing project, mistakes are made. These are usually typos and have been missed after checking for accuracy. If you do notice an obvious spelling mistake, for example, Thmoas instead of Thomas or Duaghter instead of Daughter, please let us know so we can correct the transcript.

We have compiled an old occupations list with definitions using the 1901 census and a selection of online sources. This will be useful to learn more about an occupation you are unfamiliar with.

​What does the census tell us?

The 1901 census was taken on 31 March. On this date the total population of England, Wales and Scotland was 36,999,946. It tells us many things about the people recorded on the pages of the enumerators' book, however, names, ages and occupations can be a little ambiguous as single pieces of data. When looking at a larger picture, we see how households were structured, which can provide insight to the social circumstances of families and the larger community. How many people were living in a household? Where they married and did they have children? Did they have boarders, servants or visitors? What occupations did they have?

Minor details such as whether or not a household was occupied, uninhabited and how many rooms they occupied if less than five provides little useful information. As a general rule, though, you can expect to find the following information in full or partial form.

Place of residence - road, street, name and/or number of household.

Name and surname of each individual in the household (even if there are visitors).

Relationship of each individual to the head of household.

Marital status, usually just M (married) or S (single).

Age at previous birthday.

Profession or occupation.

Employed, worker or own account, i.e, own business.

Birth place - hamlet, village, town or city followed by the county.

How were the censuses recorded?

It was a lengthy process that required many enumerators nationwide to complete the task. ​The enumerator, also known as a census taker, is a person who performed the task of recording the details compiled in the census returns. This worked by walking door to door and handing out census schedules to every household and institution in an enumerator's district several days before the census was to take place. Each schedule was supposed to be filled in by the "head" of the household and returned to the enumerator for recording in the enumerators' book.

There were two different enumeration districts for Padfield, numbers 26 and 27, and these were compiled by two different enumerators, Alfred Phillips and Ellis Sidebottom respectively. The enumeration districts came under part of the Civil Parish of Glossop and part of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Hadfield and St. Andrew. Padfield's enumeration districts encompassed substantial tracts of land and included part of Brosscroft, Roughfields, Windy Harbour, Deep Clough and various other locations. The two different districts effectively split Padfield in half using Post Street as the dividing line.​Errors and misinformationThe information recorded in the enumerators' book varied from place to place and how accurately the enumerator performed his role of filling in the details. The enumerators did make mistakes, which can be seen on ocassion. Details may have been placed in the wrong column, an individual's relationship to the head may appear incorrect or place names may have been spelt incorrectly. However you look at it, the task of reading and deciphering the multitude of different handwriting styles on the census schedules would have been a difficult task by any standard.

A large number of the population would have been partially literate, or even illiterate altogether, and may have struggled to understand what was expected of them when filling out the census schedules. In addition to this not all schedules would have been filled out with honesty as a forefront, so we can at least expect a little economy with the truth, mainly about how old people were. We should always bear in mind that there is very real possibility of errors and misinformation recorded in those pages. This does not mean the census is riddled with mistakes but realising this from the outset prepares us to have an open mind to this understanding.

Schedules and household orderThe way the enumerator compiled the information depended largely on when the schedules were collected and copied into the book. Schedules were recorded in number order but that does not necessarily mean that household numbers were recorded the same way. Roads were often split between different folios and pages, having other roads listed in between. In many cases household numbers did not run in order. An example of this is taken from the Padfield 1901 census.

Schedule

Household number / Street

133

19 Barber Street

134

21 Barber Street

135

2 Barber Street

136

1A Post Street

137

2 Platt Street

138

4 Platt Street

139

6 Platt Street

Areas covered in the original census

Each enumeration district had a description page. This was used to identify the registration district along with a series of local sub-divisions, such as: Civil Parish, Ecclesiastical Parish, Municipal Borough, Wards of Municipal Borough and Parliamentary Division. Included on the description page is the boundary and contents of the enumeration district. The boundaries have been include here to give you an idea of the areas involved for both districts.

Boundary of Enumeration District 26"On the North by and including Padfield Main Road and Edward Platt's house, on the South by the stream that divides Hadfield from Padfield from Brickfield Street to Thornley Mill Bridge, on the East by and including Post Street, and on the West by the middle of Brosscroft from Thornley Mill Bridge to Padfield Main Road at the Victoria Inn."

Boundary of Enumeration District 27"On the North by the Moors at Woodhead - on the South from the foot of Picknase to the left of Redgate; on the East by the Moor from the Northern Boundary to the foot of Picknase - and on the West by a line drawn from the top of Redgate to and including Miss Fielding's house in Platt Street."

Areas covered in the transcript

To keep things simple, it seemed far easier and more localised to transcribe census using the modern day visual boundary of the village instead of the boundary used at the time. As a result of this, places such as Brosscroft and the Hadfield side of Padfield Main Road were not included as they lie outside of the present-day boundary of the village. The roads that have been included are numbered below and correspond to the "sheet" numbers in the transcript:

Padfield Main Road (within the village)

Jackson Street and Peel Street

Post Street

Rhodes Street, Regent Street and Barber Street

Platt Street

Lees Row

Temple Street

Little Padfield

Temple Avenue and Rhodes Top did not exist in 1901, so they do not appear in the transcript. There didn't appear to be any listing of households on Brickfield Street. Although it is clearly mentioned on the (district 26) description page under "Boundary", it is not listed in the contents.

Village businesses in 1901

The census can provide more information than just names, marital status and addresses. Building on a specific subject, such as village businesses, you can piece together smaller fragments of information to create a more complete picture. Padfield's past has seen a variety of trades and professions in shopfronts and private dwellings, dotted sporadically around the village at least until 1991 when the last shop, the family-run Burdekin's Confectionary Shop, finally closed its doors. But if you were to travel back through time, things would be very different. In 1941 there were 12 shops listed as trading in Padfield and in 1887, there were a total of 21 shops open for business. Sadly, however, the downturn in the cotton industry brought about the start to a steadily declining financial climate that would have a knock-on effect and eventually see an end to the much-loved village shop. From 1991 onwards there hasn't been a shop in Padfield.

The 1901 census has a grey area regarding the "own account - at home" definition. If both were written, this simply meant they were self-employed and working at home. However, there isn't a clear distinction between someone who is:

self-employed, working at home in a shop (which is part of his/her household) and living above the shop;

self-employed, working at home but without a shop, for example, a stocking knitter.

There were a few people living in Padfield at this time listed as "own account" but not all of them are "at home". Those that were listed as at home may not have necessarily been working in a shop, for example, a charwoman.

The following shows those listed as "own account" (self-employed). Anyone listed as working "at home" are marked as "yes". A blank space denotes this column was not filled in on the original census return. This could mean they either worked away from home or it was an oversight when filling in the return.